Cool down your laptop with copper

[packman]

Article is geared toward the MacBook Pro, but any laptop owner suffering overheating problems ( long ago I had mine on wooden plugs with a fan blowing under it - did no good) might want to take a look at this site.

CAUTION - This MacBook owner used Japanese copper coins . DO NOT try it with U.S. "copper" pennies - they have been a poor echo of the real copper pennies since 1981.

In theory, copper acts as a heat sink drawing away all that built up heat.



http://www.sciencealert.com/stop-your-computer-overheating-by-stacking-copper-coins-on-it?perpetual=yes&limitstart=1

[GreydeeThos]

2. This works like a charm too

[NJCher]

4. can you explain this to people like

urm, English majors?


Cher

[GreydeeThos]

6. In a time long ago when people worked on cars instead of staring at cell phones

Older gasoline engines used to have mechanical fuel pumps mounted on the side of engine block and were operated by a lever pushed by one of the camshaft lobes. When the weather was warm and under hood temperatures were high, gasoline would evaporate in the fuel pump (become gasoline vapor). Liquid gasoline is essentially incompressible, and the pump has no trouble pushing liquid through the fuel line, but when it is vapor, the pump simply squeezes the vapor and then releases it and no fuel is fed to the engine. This is called Vapor Lock.

One of the colloquialisms of amateur automobile mechanics was to place clothes pins on the fuel line to prevent Vapor Lock. To this day there are gear heads that will argue for hours about weather or not clothes pins can prevent Vapor Lock.

[NJCher]

9. interesting

Because I once had a Honda that would get vapor lock. Just like you said, it would happen on hot days. I was never told about the clothespin solution, though.

Instead, finally a mechanic told me to carry a stick with me and when it happened, prop open the gas tank with the stick. I did this and it worked. Finally I got another car and no longer have to worry about this.

Thanks for the explanation!


Cher

[panader0]

11. I swear by it. Make sure the clothes pins are wood.

[hunter]

7. I miss the days car engines were so simple, but I don't miss the smog.

My grandparents lived in Los Angeles and I haven't forgotten the smell, or the days the air burned my eyes, nose, and lungs as a kid.

Many larger cities of the world are still like that.

I had a newer car in the 'seventies with an electric fuel pump and a fuel pressure regulator built into the carburetor that would recycle fuel back to the tank. It never got vapor lock.

Some of the gasoline sold in the seventies was really, really crappy -- pretty much a mix of toluene, miscellaneous chemical plant wastes that couldn't be sold as paint strippers or pesticides, and butane. Cars wouldn't run because of vapor lock, or they kept dieseling merrily along in the parking lot long after the ignition was turned off.

[George Eliot]

16. I'm a teacher and read that kids are smarter today because no lead in gas.

Kids and many parents don't realize the positive changes we've experienced by moving to unleaded gas.

[whistler162]

3. or just use something like this

https://www.etsy.com/listing/271504592/quilted-trivet-red-brown-beige-coffee?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=insulated placemats&ref=sc_gallery_1&plkey=3b0326062c1e47c3944bffe2a21306c267c073b0:271504592

Insulated placemat cheap and easy to transport.

[earthshine]

5. Very kitchy ... you're joking right?

These trivets will literally smother one's laptop by blocking the air vents.

All computers with air vents on the bottom -- that is, all laptops, notebooks, etc. -- are designed to be on a solid surface.

Do not use on a bed, for example.

[whistler162]

17. very serious and it works

these are padded cloth placemats.

[hunter]

8. My little Chromebook doesn't get hot. It doesn't even have a fan.

It uses about two watts, up to four when it's plugged in and the batteries are charging.

It's not the sort of machine I could edit videos on or do any serious number crunching, but I have a desktop machine for that.

[mackerel]

10. I thought copper was a good heat conductor?

[packman]

13. It is - an excellent one

That's the point of the article, by stacking TRUE copper coins on your laptop it will suck up any excessive heat being generated by the laptop.

[mackerel]

15. Oooooooo now I get it. That would have

been a great lesson for my 8th grade science class.

[hobbit709]

12. Or you can blow out the dust out of the cooling fan vent with some compressed air.

[Major Nikon]

14. I guess my copper underwear wasn't such a bad investment after all